how bad is my battery life?

First, the battery is fast circling the drain. Can't say how fast since you don't indicate the size of the Mac (big 17" MBPs have a much bigger battery than the 13" MBPs...) so we can't evaluate whether 3968 is a little or not. The fact that it only has 486 cycles is troubling, since they're supposed to last more than twice that much. Maybe a trip to the Store and a diplomatic touch gets you a free new battery, but don't hope for much since it is out of warranty.

Lastly, fluctuating screen brightness is usually caused by having the "Automatically adjust brightness" option enabled in System Preferences / Displays. The light sensor is overly sensitive and causes fluctuation whenever a shadow passes in front of it (sensor is located just to the left of the camera on the lid).

Ok, according to what I've researched, a 13" MBP battery should hold 5500 mAh when new. Yours is holding (3968/5500)*100 = 72% of the designed max capacity. Which is bad, cause they're supposed to last 80% of design capacity at 1000 cycles. So yeah, it is out of spec in more than one sense. Use charm, good looks and feminine wiles to wean a new battery out of a susceptible Genius?

Courcoul, you were really helpful to KarlaMarines, could you tell me how my battery is doing? I have a MacBook Pro, 15" (measured on diagonal). I have a message saying "Service Battery." It's out of warranty, and I'm the second owner. I think this computer is ~2007 or 2008, MacBookPro1,1 Intel Core Duo.

Thanks.

Battery Information:

Charge Information:

Charge remaining (mAh): 4083

Fully charged: Yes

Charging: No

Full charge capacity (mAh): 4193

Health Information:

Cycle count: 251

Condition: Check Battery

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): -2285

Voltage (mV): 11672

If it's a 1,1 machine, it's the first version of the MacBook Pro that was introduced in early 2006 (I had one, too) and the battery consumption was horrible on those machines. Since it's a user-replaceable battery, you can get a new one from Apple or (my recommendation) get the Newer Technology battery from OWC. I wen't through two Apple batteries and almost two OWC batteries when I had my machine and one of those OWC batteries is still alive and kicking for someone in Minnesota.

Try the OWC batteries - they hold a charge better than the Apple and give you more capacity to run on battery for a longer period of time.

Good luck,

Clinton

Clinton, yes, it's a 1,1 and the battery is $79. These days I usually work with the electric cord plugged in. How soon do I need to get the battery?

(I bought a new internal hard drive from OWC in June, and I was happy with their service.) Thanks.

I would just go ahead and purchase it - even though I use my MBP plugged into mains about 90% of the time, there's always that 10% of the time when I need my battery. No use putting off the inevitable - the price is good and the batteries are good and OWC is a joy to work with.

Good luck,

Clinton

OK, thanks!

KarlaMarines, OWC (Other World Computing) is the name of the company that sells products for use with Apple computers, http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple/Laptop/Batteries#mbp. They sell a brand of batteries and battery conditioners that other customers have really liked. On their site, I don't see a battery for a MacBook Pro 13", so you may want to go on the web site and get help by calling or using the online chat. I bought a hard drive last year and was very satisfied with that company.

• Before calling, check the model name, age, serial number, etc., using http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.phphttp:// and by looking at the Wikipedia article.
• To check your serial number, click on the Apple Icon on top left of screen, click on "About This Mac," "More Info" or System Profiler, look at the list to get Serial Number, under Hardware Overview section.
• Or, go to /Applications/Utilities folder, System Profiler, hardware overview page. Look for "Model Identifier" on second line. Look for model ID on the left side and find something like "MacBookPro4,1" (the numbers will differ) on the right. Using the model ID you can inquire what battery to buy from OWC.
• If your laptop is still under warranty, perhaps you can get a free battery from the Apple Store at the Genius Bar.
  

Good luck, and let us know how you're doing.